Wrong Place, Wrong Time
by stegogirl
Summary: After surviving a potentially life-threatening situation, Lorelai thinks about a future with Luke. Several months after my Bye-bye Balcony Buddy story, but can stand alone.
1. Ask Again Later

**Disclaimer - I claim to own nothing related to this show, except some worn down, much loved DVDs. Well, Seasons 1-6 anyway. O.K. you got me; I don't love the Season 6 DVDs. They gather dust.**

**Follows my story Bye-Bye Balcony Buddy; however, this can be a stand alone story if you assume Luke and Lorelai started dating in Christopher Returns. I _do_ have a fluffy, sugar-sweet plan for this story and it involves some hurt along the way.**

**Time line – After Presenting Lorelai Gilmore and before Like Mother, Like Daughter**

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* * *

  
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A very exhausted and rumpled Lorelai entered the kitchen, scowling at nothing; her daughter had not left her bedroom yet so of course there was no coffee made. Just then, Rory's door opened, and she appeared, looking fresh and renewed.

"Hey Mom, is the coffee on yet?" she greeted her mother cheerfully.

"Do you smell coffee? It doesn't get up and make itself," she said irritably.

Rory made a growling noise reminiscent of a cat fighting and said, "Such snark. How did I get so lucky?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't sleep well," Lorelai said quickly, sans snark.

Rory sat down at the table and opened one of her textbooks, but did not read. Instead, she was thinking about how, for the last couple of days, her mother had been acting stranger and stranger. She frowned as she watched Lorelai place a coffee filter in the top part of the coffee maker, fill the reservoir with water, and turn it on without adding coffee grounds. Lorelai turned and went to the fridge, and Rory was hoping to lighten the mood when she joked, "Mom: making coffee tastes better when you, you know, use actual coffee in the coffee maker."

Lorelai slammed the fridge door shut and rounded on Rory; almost angrily she asked, "Are you having sex with Dean?"

"Huh – Mom – what?" Rory could usually keep up with her mother, but this morning she was not able to figure out how they had gone from coffee to sex so quickly.

Lorelai composed herself briefly and tried to be nicer, "Are you? Please tell me?"

"How is 'Are you having sex?' an appropriate follow up to 'use coffee in the coffee maker?'"

"I know I sound mad, but really I promise not to let my head explode. I just want to know," she said, concerned. She sat down next to Rory and touched her hand. "If you want, I can take you to the clinic and get you on the pill. You're supposed to start getting yearly paps anyway when you start having sex."

"No, Mom, I am not having sex with Dean," still looking at her mother as if she had grown an extra set of appendages.

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked, not realizing how silly the question was.

"I may not be experienced, but we had this talk already, disturbing diagrams and all. I know how it works," she replied in a placating tone one would use with an insane person. As Lorelai dramatically put her head on the table, Rory spoke: "Mom, what is wrong with you? This is weird, even for you. You and Grandma didn't fight at dinner last night, so spill."

Lorelai kept trying to form the words, but was having a hard time getting them from her brain to her mouth, as if keeping them unspoken would make it not real. "Uh pink um brad nut," she said with her head still on the table.

"Mom."

"Hmm?" She hadn't sat up yet.

"Head up, move lips, try again."

When Lorelai raised her head from the table, Rory could see tears threatening to fall, and suddenly she knew it was more serious than a bad night's sleep. She became worried and slightly panicky as she waited for her mom to tell her what it was that was bothering her.

"I think I'm pregnant," she admitted.

"Whoa."

"Yeah..."

"O.K., let's be rational. Start by telling me what makes you think that."

"Well I'm a week late as of today. I'm never late, except well," she gestured at Rory.

"Anything else?"

Lorelai thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, that's the only indication. I'm not interested in anything healthy, like with you I craved apples constantly, I'm not nauseated," she pointed to her chest, "and the girls aren't sore."

"What about your crabbiness and your glum mood the last few days?"

"Hi! Not helping!"

"Sorry, Mom."

"That could be chalked up to fear and lack of sleep for worrying."

"Without offering information that you know I _really_ don't want, have you been safe each and every single time?"

"Of course! You know I am careful. While I appreciate the joy and sunshine you have brought into my life, I always thought if I had another kid I'd try being married first."

"Have you told Luke about this possibility?"

"Are you kidding?" Lorelai scoffed.

They were both quiet for a moment, lost in thought. Rory offered, "It could be stress. You know, the débutante ball..."

Suddenly, Lorelai looked a little hopeful, "Yeah, maybe."

"Now, it's time for the next natural course of action." Rory got up from the table with a determined look upon her face.

"Oh I know! You lock me in my bedroom and I start getting cozy with the wallpaper!"

"We buy pregnancy tests."

Lorelai panicked; "No! We can't buy them here! Everyone will know!"

"So I guess you would like it if I canceled the marching band and the chorus that sings: 'Lorelai Gilmore is buying pregnancy tests!'"

"Could you, Hun?"

"We'll go to Woodbridge; I'll drive, that way you can crawl around the floor of the Jeep if you want."

* * *

Lorelai stood outside the diner, looking in, knowing that she would have to go inside and talk to him. She sighed deeply, as only those with heavy hearts can, and hoped that this was not the last time she would see her boyfriend. The bell tinkled as she crossed over the threshold, and she tried to look normal so that the townies wouldn't suspect something was wrong. The way she was feeling right now, she couldn't trust her mouth not to blurt out the horrible news at the first sign of pressure.

She strode past the tables and the counter and went straight to the store room without so much as acknowledging Luke; this of course piqued his curiosity and he followed.

"Lorelai?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?" she said defensively.

"Well let's see: you come in the diner with the weirdest look on your face – I can't tell if you're going to cry or if you're having an aneurysm – you don't even look at me, you go into my storeroom by yourself – where you know my insurance only allows employees – and you're being evasive. Each and every one of the above points to trouble."

Lorelai was speechless.

"Did something happen with your parents?" She shook her head. "Is Rory O.K.?" She nodded. "What about you, are you O.K.?" Lorelai responded neither orally or with body language. "Lorelai!" he growled.

"I'm pregnant," she finally said.

He stared at her with his mouth open, in complete shock. Suddenly, there was a noise remarkably like the roadrunner when it takes off very quickly. All that remained of her boyfriend was a cloud of a dust and a baseball cap spinning in the air where his head had been.

From far away, Lorelai heard, "Mom. Mom? MOM!"

Lorelai snapped out of her daydream, for a moment wondering irrationally if bad daydreams could be referred to as daymares. "Huh, what?" she said.

"It's time to check the tests."

"Oh, that."

The bathroom door had been left closed to discourage peeking. Lorelai placed her hand on the knob, but hesitated, and opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if she were about to speak, but shrugged and opened the door.

They had bought five different brands of tests, three of which came with a second – the extras had been saved just in case – and now Lorelai was glad they had saved those three, because neither of them expected what they saw when they looked at the counter.

The two, most expensive name brand tests were clearly negative. The only square test, it kind of resembled a white pager that some restaurants use, had developed no lines at all. The mid-priced test had a second, very faint, gray-colored line, and the cheaper store brand definitely had two purple lines. Both ladies looked confused, and finally it was Lorelai that spoke: "So what does this mean?"

Rory began skimming the directions of the square test, after a moment she said, "This one was a dud, or you 'flooded' it, whatever that means." Rory moved on the the instructions of the test that had a gray line. She turned the paper over and finally found the answer, "Oh that's an evaporation line, which means we waited too long to read it, but should be considered a negative. They all say you have a better shot at an accurate answer if you use first morning urine."

"I wish there was some kind of machine they could put me in so I could find out now." Lorelai sat on the toilet lid and put her hand in her hands. "So that's one dud, three negatives and a positive; does that mean I'm one-fifth pregnant?"

"I think it means 'Ask again later.' Try tomorrow morning?"

"Guess I have to, huh?"

* * *

"RORY!" Lorelai shouted as she ran down the stairs, with a huge smile plastered on her face. "Rory! Don't be asleep yet please!" She bounced through the hallway and the kitchen and barged into Rory's room, where the young lady was sleeping.

Lorelai jumped into Rory's bed. "Get up, get up, get up!" she exclaimed.

"Mrmph," Rory said.

"You need to be awake for this, my _one and only offspring!_"

"What?"

"Looks like I don't need the backup tests after all."

"You mean you're..."

"Trolling for vampires, taking Carrie to the prom, saddling Ole Rusty, it's arts and crafts week at panty camp, I'm riding the crimson wave..."

"Mom. Gross."

"...there's been a massacre at the Y..."

"Stop."

Lorelai giggled. "Sorry, I'm feeling menstru-iffic!"

Rory groaned. "Can we delay the celebrations until breakfast?"

Lorelai squeezed Rory through the covers. "I love ya kid, but I'm glad you're the only one."

"_Goodnight, _Mom."

"Night Hun."

* * *

**Thank you for reading. Kudos to anyone who gets the wallpaper/crawling reference. I'll post what it came from at the beginning of the next chapter. **


	2. You're Responsible For My Evildoings!

_Wow it has been a while. I am so sorry! I am not finished with it but I had a bit of inspiration. Maybe I'll finish it? At least I am not leaving you wondering with a strange reference this time. The reference from last chapter was from _The Yellow Wallpaper _by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It's a story about a woman who slowly loses her mind after being restricted to her room after giving birth. It is available to read on the internet for free and I highly recommend it! At any rate, you may need to re-read the previous chapter, if you were following this story._

**Disclaimer - I claim to own nothing related to this show, except some worn down, much loved DVDs. Well, Seasons 1-6 anyway. O.K. you got me; I don't love the Season 6 DVDs. They gather dust.**

_2 weeks after previous chapter _

Lorelai and Rory were sitting at their table in the diner on Thursday evening. Rory had in front of her a mostly-eaten cheeseburger and chili fries, while Lorelai had only coffee. Lorelai looked a little antsy, as if she were up to something, and sure enough, once Rory turned to hail Luke for coffee refills, Lorelai quickly took the pills she had been hiding in her hands and chased them with coffee.

"Mom!" Rory admonished.

"What?" unsuccessfully feigning innocence.

"You know what. You're still taking pain pills? Why don't you get it checked out?"

"Relax honey, it's only ibuprofen. I don't take more than I'm supposed to every day."

"But you're only supposed to take them for a few days in a row before _seeing a doctor_."

Rory had started to get a little loud and Lorelai hushed her; she didn't want Luke or anyone else to know about her pain. She leaned in and signaled for Rory to do the same. "There's no reason I should give up two hundred dollars of my hard earned money to let a snotty young doctor tell me I have an ovarian cyst. He will just tell me to go home, relax, and take some ibuprofen."

"How do you know that's what it is? What; are you a doctor now?"

"Yes, I've been meaning to tell you for some time," she said dryly. "I had one when you were three. I went to the emergency room; sure that I had appendicitis. Instead, I got a lecture from the doctor about how the emergency room is for 'life-and-death situations only,' and that I shouldn't waste their precious time."

Rory considered this momentarily. "Did you also have no appetite?"

Lorelai shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really remember that part, I do however remember the pain."

Rory looked back for Luke again, and this time he saw her and began to make his way over. When Rory turned back around she found her mother giving her a warning look. She knew her mother was trying to tell her not to mention anything to Luke.

"You gonna order any food?" Luke asked. "Nah, I'm full." Rory narrowed her eyes at Lorelai, who pretended not to notice.

Luke regarded her dubiously. "You didn't eat this morning either..."

Lorelai sighed, "I didn't want you to find out like this, but I'm seeing another diner. The owner there doesn't lecture me about my eating habits and he lets me have the coffee pot at my table." Lorelai finished with a hair twirl, hoping to distract him. This time, Luke was unaffected; he crossed his arms and continued to wait for the real answer. "Sorry, Sookie wants to completely re-do the menu, and she's been using me as a guinea pig. I haven't exactly been turning her down either." Lorelai grinned shamefully, and he seemed to buy it this time.

* * *

_Next Morning..._

Rory, dressed in her uniform and carrying her backpack, paced back and forth in front of the diner. She looked at her watch, noting that there were only thirteen minutes until her bus was scheduled to show. She was frightened because her mother had called in sick to work. That in itself was not particularly unusual, except for the fact that there was a big event coming up. Her mother would usually go in no matter what. Rory thought it was time to call in the big guns; a.k.a. Luke. She knew her mother would be outraged to know that she was even considering it. With another glance at her watch – only thirty seconds had passed this time – she rushed into the diner before she could change her mind again.

She caught Luke by the register and put on her puppy dog face. "Luke, I need to talk to you about Mom and I don't have - "

"Caesar, I'm goin' upstairs." He led her upstairs and let her into his apartment. After he shut the door, he asked, "this is about her not eating, isn't it?"

Rory nodded, "It's not only that, her side hurts, and she says that she knows it's just a cyst because she had one before, but it keeps getting worse, and she's taking ibuprofen like it's going out of style, and she stayed home today! I know she likes to play hookey, but that's not what this is. There's some big society dinner at the inn on Monday and even if she has the flu she doesn't miss planning these things in person - " Luke put a hand up to stop her.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked her. "Get her to see a doctor, she might listen to you."

* * *

Two and a half hours later found Luke and Lorelai in the exam room of an urgent care facility. It was a slow day at the clinic, and paperwork had scarcely been completed before she was called back for poking and prodding. Luke insisted on accompanying her because he didn't trust her to give him accurate information regarding her condition, considering she had been hiding it for a number of days. Unfortunately for Luke, he didn't realize a pelvic exam would be involved, and he spent several minutes with his eyes glued to the ceiling while a female intern and her supervisor took care of that business.

"I can't believe I'm never going to have to hear you complain about my coffee intake ever again. Oh, and Rory gets no more coffee from you. Or pie."

"Lorelai, that's if, and only if, that doctor comes back in here and tells us that nothing's wrong."

"You'll see. It doesn't even hurt as bad as it did this morning."

He sighed. "For once, I hope you're right."

Soon after, the doctor returned. When Lorelai looked at her, she muttered to herself, "Oh, serious face."

Dr. Alva flipped up the top sheet on her clipboard and put it back down a few times before asking "Mrs. Gilmore, was there anything unusual about your last period?"

Lorelai hesitated, but said, "Well, it _was_ a week late." Luke raised an eyebrow at Lorelai, but her attention was focused on her doctor.

"And when was the one before that?"

"Uhhh, I don't remember the date offhand, but they are normally thirty days apart, so it must have been thirty-seven days before."

Dr. Alva wrote something down and resumed her paper-flipping ritual. "It looks like you're pregnant. If I disregard your bleeding from almost two weeks ago, and use the previous menstrual period, I would estimate you are almost seven weeks." Dr. Alva trailed off.

"But..." Lorelai said skeptically.

"But," the doctor admitted, "that doesn't match up with the numbers from the blood work. I've already ordered an ultrasound to see what's going on in there. The technician should be here any minute." Just after the door closed on Dr. Alva's exit, a technician in multi-colored scrubs pushing an ultrasound machine re-opened it and greeted the couple.

Lorelai squinted at the woman's scrubs while she set up the equipment. "Oh! Coffee cups! You _so_ have to tell me where you got those; I need cute pajamas." The tech only chuckled in response. Lorelai noticed that the tech was carefully positioning the monitor out of their line of sight. "Hey, we wanted to watch some t.v.," she quipped.

"Sorry, clinic rules. I'm not allowed to let patients view imaging. The doctor has to read my report and see the pictures that I take. Then, she might be talked into sharing with you."

With nothing else to look at while the ultrasound was performed, Lorelai occupied herself by reading the technician's face. Slowly it went from deep concentration to puzzlement. "O.K., I'm going to need to do a trans-vaginal ultrasound now, so I can see better."

Soon after the second procedure began, the technician's face went completely blank. She fiddled with some buttons and took some notes, then offered Lorelai a towel to remove the gel. While she packed up the machine to go, she told them that she would hand her report over to Dr. Alva in just a few minutes, and then the doctor would be back to speak with them.

"So," Lorelai said.

"So..." Luke repiled.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, avoiding each others' eyes before Lorelai finally spoke up, "I'm thinking that by the look on her face, things are not so good."

* * *

Rory wasn't yet home when they got back to the Crap Shack. As soon as the truck was off, Luke jumped out of the vehicle and rushed over to Lorelai's side. She got out and swayed a little, and when Luke made a move as if to catch her, she snapped at him, "I've been walking for some 30-odd years, I think I can manage."

"They said you might get dizzy from the medication, I just wanted to be there if you fell."

"I'll be fine," she said in a softer voice.

They made it inside without further incident. Lorelai dumped her purse on the phone table and sat on the couch. Luke stood by the stairs wanting to say something but not knowing what to say and Lorelai was suffering from a similar malady. The awkwardness was soon interrupted by Rory bursting through the front door. She dropped her bags in the foyer and ran into the next room, out of breath. She had expected her mom to be angry with her, but wasn't prepared for the serious faces that greeted her.

"Mom...?" Rory started.

Luke cleared his throat, "I'm gonna make some coffee while you guys talk."

"Don't look so worried," Lorelai said. "I'm going to be fine, it's just been one scary roller-coaster ride today. Sit." She patted the cushion next to her and Rory took it. "You remember my flip-out a couple of weeks ago, and what caused it?"

For a moment, Rory appeared confused, but then she remembered and whispered, "You're pregnant?"

"Well, I was, kind of. It was in my tube. You were right, I needed to see a doctor. She said if I had waited another week, give or take, it could have ruptured and caused internal bleeding. You just might have saved my life."

Rory digested the information and asked, "When you say 'was' do you mean...?"

"There's nothing that can be done to save it, when it grows in the wrong place. They gave me a shot of something to make it stop growing and a bag of handy-dandy pain meds," she raised and rattled the white paper sack. "I have to go back in a few days and get another ultrasound to make sure it's shrinking. Also, they want to keep testing my blood, until the hormone goes away."

Rory scooted closer to her mom and put her arms around her.

"You know," Lorelaid started, "in some cultures you would be responsible for my evildoings from here on out."

"Totally worth it," Rory replied.

_Coming up... _

_In chapter 3 Lorelai and Luke have a serious talk. _

_In Chapter 4 the end of this story, a bit of silliness, and a new character both inspired by my real life._


End file.
